Keeping girls active; Berkhamsted welcomes The Well HQ

To ensure that all pupils can enjoy the mental, physical, and social benefits of sport, Berkhamsted welcomed Dr Emma Ross, Co-Founder of The Well HQ (a consultancy service dedicated to women’s health) to talk to Years 7 to 13 about enhancing their sporting performance.

Since 64% of girls quit sports after puberty (aged 16/17), Emma’s talks were largely aimed at the girls school, teaching girls how to maximise their performance around their menstrual cycle and physical anatomy.

Katy Costin, Assistant Director of Sport, introduced the session:

“When I was in school, I would have benefitted from learning how to enhance my sporting performance, so I hope this will be helpful!” Mrs Costin told the pupils.

Dr Ross taught girls in Years 7 to 11 about how the sporting world has been designed around the male anatomy, sharing staggering figures like how only 6% of sports science and medical research is conducted exclusively on women. But Emma and The Well HQ team are determined not to let this statistic stop girls from playing and enjoying sports. The presentation taught the youngest year groups about how to eat, train and dress around the menstruation cycle, female anatomy, and hormone cycles.

Afterwards, Emma spoke to male and female Sixth Form Captains for a Sports Scholar Workshop where students learned how to enhance their performance through food, training, and sleep.

Hearing the expertise of Emma and The Well HQ team ensured that pupils’ physical and emotional experiences of their bodies don’t hold them back from being active, enjoying exercise or participating in sports to their best ability. A huge thanks to Dr Ross and to Mr Pierce and Mrs Costin for organising these insightful talks.